Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,002 is a magneto-propelled artificial heart composed of two identical rigid housings. An inlet and an outlet port with two-element valves are provided in the top part of each housing. The top part of the housing, through which the blood flows, contains two identical spaces separated from one another by a vertical and rigid septum. A one-piece magnetic valve is provided between these spaces, one space serving the role of the atrium, the other that of the ventricle, this valve being pivotably attached to the top part of the housing, the bottom edge of this valve being against the top edge of the vertical septum. The bottom part of the housing, where a hydraulic pump is contained, is separated from the top part, through which the blood flows, by two elastic bags, these bags being attached at one end to the inner surface of the housing walls, and to the top part of the vertical septum at their other end. The bottom section of the vertical septum is flared, and a rigid partition is attached to this septum, this partition being horizontal in its mid section and bent at its sides, both ends of this partition being fixed inside the housing. There are ports provided in the bent faces of this rigid partition. A chamber with an anti-magnetic screen is contained in the bottom part of the housing, this chamber being filled with liquid, a part of this chamber constituting a pumping cylinder. The heart propulsion mechanism is contained in this chamber, this mechanism being composed of a vertically positioned ferromagnetic piston, the excitation winding of this piston being powered by batteries attached to the housing. This piston is slidably and elastically mounted on two guiding rods, the ends of said rods being fixed to two permanent magnets arranged in parallel to the ferromagnetic piston at both its sides, the poles of the magnets being disposed in opposition one to the other. The length of the moving zone of the ferromagnetic piston is the same as that of the horizontal and non-perforated section of the bottom partition. The valves are made in the form of two-arm magnetic levers swiveling on brackets mounted inside the housing, the longer arms of levers facing a recess in the wall in which two permanent magnets are installed; one magnet which is of opposite polarity to the valve pole is installed at the blood outlet side near the valve edge, the other magnet which is of the same polarity as the jointly operating pole of the valve is installed at the blood inlet side, on the extension of the axis of rotation.
The ferromagnetic piston moves in the pumping cylinder, in the space filled with liquid, in reciprocity with the changeover of the polarity of its excitation winding and due to the attraction force of both permanent magnets whose poles are opposed. This motion causes the liquid to flow, once through one and then through the other set of ports provided in the horizontal rigid partition, and from the chamber space to the space below the elastic bags, these bags causing, after being displaced upward by the liquid, that blood is forced out once from the atrium to the ventricle through the one-piece valve, and then from the ventricle to the blood circulation system, with blood being simultaneously drawn into the atrium. The valves are actuated by the jointly operating permanent magnets, they open under the pressure of flowing blood which causes the force of both opposite poles to be overcomed, these opposed poles cooperating one with the other when the valves are closed, the valves opening under the effect of repulsion of the opposed poles, the pressure of inflowing blood dropping simultaneously.
A disadvantage of the above described artificial heart is the limited capacity of the batteries which is insufficient for a permanent operation of the heart. Thus the need arises to supply the heart with voltage from external sources, this presenting another disadvantage since the winding has to be supplied with a large current required to overcome the resistance in the hydraulic pump. The principal disadvantage inherent in an external power supply for the artificial heart is the danger of infection along the power leads, this presenting a lethal danger for the person carrying such a heart. Additionally, the heart of this type requires an extra analytical and controlling apparatus to control its operation in accordance with biochemical and physical information obtained as to the health condition of the person carrying the heart.